I am a political activist who has worked and lived in the West Bank of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This blog chronicles my time in Palestine and also provides news and analysis about Palestine and the situation on the ground in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Coalition
Against Israeli Apartheid and
Australians for Palestineproudly
present:

PREMIER
FILM SHOWINGof

Simone
Bitton's film

RACHEL

On
16 March, 2003, 23 year old American university student, Rachel
Corrie was crushed to death by a steel plated Israeli military
bulldozer as she non-violent attempt to stop the Israeli military
from demolishing the home of a Palestinian family in Gaza.

To
commemorate the tenth anniversary of Rachel's death, the Coalition
Against Israeli Apartheid and Australians for Palestine are hosting
the premier screening of Simone Bitton's film, Rachel. The screening
is a one-off event. The film will be introduced by Michael Shaik,
who worked with Rachel in the International Solidarity Movement, when
she was killed.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

please find below a new video by Australian activists in support of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. The video features was produced by Rihab Charida and Aamer Rahman and features (in order of appearance):

Since its founding in 1948, Israel has been an openly racist and
apartheid state, using both legally sanctioned discrimination and
military force to ethnically cleanse and oppress the indigenous
Palestinian people. It has imposed an apartheid system both inside
the Zionist state and in the Palestinian territories that it seized
in 1967.What is apartheid?The United Nations definition of apartheid was enshrined in the
1973 International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of
the Crime of Apartheid. Article Two of the 1973 Convention identifies
apartheid as not only being the denial of members of a racial group
the right to life, the inflicting of arbitrary arrest, illegal
imprisonment, serious bodily and/or mental harm (such as torture or
degrading punishment). It is also identified with the exploitation of
racial groups by forced labour and the imposition of living
conditions aimed at destruction – in part or whole – of the
group.Article Two also identifies apartheid as the implementation of
“any legislative measures and other measures calculated to prevent
a racial group or groups from participation in the political, social,
economic and cultural life of the country”. It also notes that
apartheid is constituted by “denying to members of a racial group
or groups basic human rights and freedoms”, with this including the
right to nationality, education, employment, freedom of opinion and
expression, peaceful assembly and association, freedom of residence
and movement, including the right to leave and return to their
country.The Convention also recognises apartheid as “any measure
including legislative measures, designed to divide the population
along racial lines by the creation of separate reserves and ghettos
for the members of racial group or groups, the prohibition of mixed
marriages among members of various racial groups, the expropriation
of landed property belonging to a racial group or groups”.Israel’s apartheidZionists (those who argue for a Jewish state in Palestine) and
apologists for Israel have attempted to deny Israel’s apartheid
nature. However, while Israel hasn't sought to impose exactly the
same apartheid regime as existed in South Africa, it does bestow a
system of rights and privileges according to ethnic and religious
identity, which fits with the UN definition.According to Israeli human rights organisation, Adalah – the
Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel – there are more
than 30 laws within Israel which legalise discrimination against
Israel's non-Jewish citizens. The laws cover areas such as marriage
and family matters, employment, education, land, property and
political activity.In 2012, Adalah noted that there has been a sharp increase in
these laws since 2011, with an additional 23 discriminatory laws and
bills either being passed or tabled in the Israeli Knesset
(parliament). Once such law which was passed in June 2011 legalised
“admission committees” in approximately 700 Israeli towns built
on “state land” in the Negev and Galilee. These committees, which
include quasi-government organisations such as the Jewish Agency,
have the full discretion to reject individuals if they are deemed
“unsuitable to the social life of the community…or social and
cultural fabric of the town”. As Adalah notes this is used to
filter out Palestinians and other Arabs, as well as other
marginalised groups, thus legally legitimising the exclusion of
entire ethnic groups from Israeli townships.Another such apartheid law is the Citizenship and Entry into
Israel Law (Temporary Provision) which was first enacted in 2003.
This law prohibits the granting of citizenship and residency status
to Palestinians from the Occupied Territories, as well as Arabs from
Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, who are married to Israeli citizens.
According to Adalah, the law specifically affects Palestinian
citizens of Israel, who make up approximately 20 percent of the
state’s population, preventing thousands of families being able to
live together.In March 2012, the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of
Racial Discrimination (UN CERD) called on Israel to end its systemic
and legalised discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel.
The Committee called on Israel to rescind all discriminatory laws and
bills “to ensure non-Jewish communities' equal access to work and
social benefits as well as political participation” and to
“eradicate all forms of segregation between Jewish and non-Jewish
communities”. In particular, the UN committee criticised Israel's
enactment of the Admissions Committee Law and called for the revoking
of the Citizenship and Entry law.Israel refused.Israel's apartheid regime is not a recent invention but has been
in place since 1948. One of the first laws passed by the
newly-established Israeli state was the “Absentees” property law.
This allowed for the confiscation of land and property which had
belonging to more 1 million Palestinians who had been forced to flee
their homes by Zionist militias in 1948.Of these refugees 750,000 became externally displaced in
neighbouring Arab countries, while150,000 became internally displaced
inside the newly formed Israeli state. The law prevents Palestinians
from reclaiming their homes, property and land. This is true not just
for those externally displaced, but also those internally displaced
Palestinian refugees who subsequently became Israeli citizens. The
Palestinian homes, property and land confiscated by Israel was
immediately handed over to Jewish immigrants and ex-soldiers, with
more than 170,000 resettled by the end of July 1948 in Palestinian
homes.In 1949, Israel introduced martial law and other “security”
laws that only applied to the Palestinian citizens of Israel. Unlike
Jewish citizens, Palestinians were subject to regular curfew and
couldn't leave or enter their own towns without permits. In addition,
restrictions were placed on their education and employment; political
activity and organisations were banned. While Martial Law formally
ended in 1966, Israel has continued its apartheid practices.The brutality of occupationSince 1967, Palestinians living the West Bank, Gaza and East
Jerusalem have been forced to live under military occupation. Since
that time, Israel issued more than 3000 military regulations to
“govern” Palestinians in these territories. These military
orders, which can be issued at the whim of a military commander,
don't need to be publicised. They affect every aspect of Palestinian
daily life, including legal identity, education, employment, health
care, housing, freedom of movement and political activity.Palestinians don't have any recourse to challenge these laws. One
military law enacted in 1970 (Military Order 378) authorised the use
of “Administrative Detention”, allows for the detention and
arrest large numbers of Palestinian civilians without charge or
trail. In 1988, the military order was amended, allowing for
Palestinians to now be detained under Administrative Detention
without designating a maximum period of time for incarceration
without charge or trail. Under this regime, detained Palestinians,
along with the lawyers, have no right to know what they are accused
of and no right to access the military 'evidence' being used against
them.According to Addameer, the Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human
Rights Association, more than 40 percent of
the male Palestinian population, including minors, of
the Occupied Territories has been detained since 1967. According
to both Israeli and Palestinian human rights organisations, nearly
all Palestinian political prisoners – both male and female,
including minors – have suffered torture while imprisoned by
Israel. Addameer notes that “Physical and psychological torture
against Palestinian and Arab prisoners has been a distinguishing
factor of Israeli occupation since 1967”. The Association estimates
that since beginning of the first Palestinian intifada in 1987, at
least 30,000 Palestinians have been tortured by Israel.Palestinians are also subject to other forms of punitive
punishment and restrictions under Israel's military apartheid regime
in the Occupied Territories, including the regular destruction of
Palestinian homes, land and agricultural crops, as well as the
restriction of freedom of movement and the prevention of using roads
or entering areas reserved only for Jewish colonial-settlers. In
addition, under this apartheid regime Palestinians’ water resources
and land are regularly confiscated and redirected for Jewish only use
in illegal Israeli colonies.ResistancePalestinians, however, have continued to struggle against Israel
apartheid and racist regime both inside Israel and the Occupied
Palestinian Territories, as well as internationally. In 2005,
Palestinian civil society issued a called for an international
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. The
campaign, inspired by the struggle of South Africans against
apartheid, calls for international solidarity and resistance to
Israel's oppression of the Palestinians by enacting non-violent
punitive measures against Israel until it complies with international
law and recognises the Palestinian people's right to
self-determination.In the last eight years, the campaign has grown in leaps in bound
and has been supported by people of conscience all over the world. In
particular, it has gained widespread support in South Africa, with
many former activists and opponents of South Africa's apartheid
regime calling for an end to Israel's apartheid system.All anti-racists should support the struggle of the Palestinians
against apartheid. As the US civil rights leader Martin Luther King
famously said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere.”

Monday, February 11, 2013

Bassem was arrested four months ago after participating in the first Palestinian BDS action in an illegal Israeli colony. Bassem was arrested on October 24 during the demonstration inside Sha'ar Benyamin colony in the Occupied West Bank. During the non-violent demonstration, Bassem was violently detained by Israeli occupation forces, who broke three of his ribs. He was subsequently interrogated for participating in an "unauthorised" demonstration and falsely accused of assaulting a police officer.

Bassem's arrest came six months after he had been released from Israeli prison. He had been previously jailed for a year for playing a leading role in Nabi Saleh's non-violent popular resistance to Israel's occupation and apartheid. During his one year impisonment, Bassem was recognised as a human rights defender by the European Union and a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International.

At the time of his arrest in October, Nariman Tamimi, Bassem's wife, stated: "According to military law, Palestinians do't have the right to demonstrate - all protest is illegal. An Israeli military judge told my husband that if he exercises his right to protest again, he will spend 17 months in prison. Well, he wouldn't sit quietly at home, and now they want to try and punish him for that".

I have included photos below of Bassem's welcome home reception in Nabi Saleh. I am so very happy to hear that my friend is home with his family and friends.

in solidarity, Kim

**

Bassem and Nariman - Photo by Abir Kopty

Bassem greets his wife Nariman - Photo by Keren Manor, Activestills

Bassem with wife, Nariman, at welcome home party - Photo by Oren Ziv, Activestills

Saturday, February 9, 2013

Dear friends,as you may have heard, Palestinian activists established a fifth protest village called Canaan on Palestinian land over the weekend in south Hebron. The protest village was immediately attacked by Israeli Occupation Forces.Please find below the call to action to support the village, as well as a statement on the establishment of the protest village. Also included is the Maan News report on the village.In solidarity, Kim***Call for participation in direct action: South West Bank CommitteeWe are the sons and daughters of Canaanites will establish Canaan
Village (Canaan) on endangered Canaanite Palestinian land. We declare
that it is our natural right to develop, reclaim, improve, use, and
live on all our lands free and without threats from
occupiers/colonizers.

Beginning Saturday 9 February, we will have several days of direct
work to help farmers in the South West Bank reclaim and improve their
agricultural lands

We call on people of conscience and media to join us as we work
our lands and thus defend it against attempts by foreign colonizers
to usurp it.

If interested to help, meet us at Bab Zqaq in Bethlehem at 7 AM
Saturday when we will move to the location/s of the work.

South West Bank committee against settlement and apartheid wall

****ACTIVISTS BUILD NEW VILLAGE, CANAAN, SOUTH HEBRON - FEB 9, 2013

A group of activists Saturday put up a new tent village near
Yatta, south of Hebron in the south of the West Bank to protest
Israeli land expropriation to expand nearby illegal settlements,
according to activists.

Tens of activists arrived in Yatta
during the early hours of the morning to put up the tent village they
named Canaan on land surrounded by the illegal settlements of Sussia
and Karmiel

A first attempt by Palestinian and foreign
activists and residents of Yatta to build the tent village of Canaan
was quickly foiled when the soldiers, who surrounded the area,
removed them and took them away. Activists later returned and set up
tents on the same location, but the army removed them
again.

Soldiers at one point attacked the activists at least 2
people including one woman and sprayed skunk water at the tents to
keep the activists away and declared the area a closed military zone,
said activists.

Soldiers cordoned the area and prevented more
activists from reaching Canaan village, which was set up only a week
after a similar protest tent village, al-Manatir, was put up on land
near the village of Burin, south of Nablus, also to protest Israeli
settlement expansion.

"We began building the tents and
were surprised when a large force of the Israeli army began attacking
us and destroying tents and hitting us ... We will try and build
Canaan village again," Younis Arar, coordinator of the popular
committees in the southern West Bank said.

Several activists
were arrested during forcibly eviction and taken to the Hebron police
station, according to army. Three journalists were detained at the
scene, a Ma'an reporter said.

Yatta popular committee
spokesman Ibrahim Rabee told Ma'an the protest camp was a stand
against Israeli policies in the region.

"We are
establishing Canaan on our land after our homes and water wells were
demolished, and our people displaced," he said.

HEBRON (Ma’an) -- Palestinians and foreign solidarity
activists on Saturday set up a new protest village in the south
Hebron hills, and vowed to remain there despite Israeli forces moving
to dismantle the structures.

Early Saturday, activists set up
steel-framed tents near the Palestinian village of al-Tuwani, calling
the encampment "Canaan".

Younis Arar, coordinator of
the popular committees in the southern West Bank, told Ma'an that
soldiers assaulted the 30 activists who had gathered in the
area.

"We began building the tents and were
surprised when a large force of the Israeli army began attacking us
and destroying tents and hitting us ... We will try and build Canaan
village again," Arar said.

A military spokeswoman said
soldiers evacuated illegal structures, and responded with riot
dispersal means when around 100 Palestinians "rioted" in
the area.

A Ma'an reporter said three journalists were
detained, and the military spokeswoman said five Palestinians and
five Israelis were arrested for entering the area after it was
declared a closed military zone.

Yatta popular committee
spokesman Ibrahim Rabee told Ma'an the protest camp was a stand
against Israeli policies in the region.

"We are
establishing Canaan on our land after our homes and water wells were
demolished, and our people displaced," he said.

The south
Hebron hills lies in an area of the West Bank under full Israeli
military control, and its residents say Israel does not allow any
building permits and demolishes homes and infrastructure, while
supporting Israeli settlements in the area.

Just south of
al-Tuwani, Israel has established a closed military zone where the
state wants to evict eight Palestinian villages to make way for a
army training ground.

The Canaan protest camp is the fifth such initiative in
recent weeks.

In January, the Bab al-Shams village was set up
in an area where Israel plans to build the "E1" settlement,
severing the West Bank from Jerusalem.

Then, locals
established the al-Karamah (Dignity) village in Beit Iksa, northwest
of Jerusalem, which is set to be tightly encircled by Israel's
separation wall.

A week later, activists set up the Al-Asra,
or prisoners, protest village in the village of Anin, northwest of
Jenin.

Last Saturday, Palestinians established the "Al-Manatir
neighborhood" encampment in an area of Burin village that
activists say is slated for confiscation by a neighboring
settlement.

Israeli forces have moved to evacuate each of the
camps and dismantle their structures.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Dear friends,200 Palestinian activists yesterday established a fourth Palestinian protest village called Al Manatir on land belonging to Burin village near Nablus. The village was built on Palestinian land which has been slated for confiscation to enable the extension of an illegal Israeli settlement.Within hours, Israeli Occupation Forces and settlers violently attacked the village. At least 20 Palestinian were injured and many arrested.Please find below Maan News report on the establishment of Al Manatir.In solidarity, Kim***Activists set up new protest village near Nablus, shoot teens.by Maan News: 2 February 2013NABLUS (Ma’an) -- Palestinian activists and farmers on Saturday erected a
new tented protest village south of Nablus, sparking clashes with
settlers which left one teen injured.

Around 200 supporters from
across the West Bank set up tents in an area of Burin village that
activists say is slated for confiscation by a neighboring settlement.

Israeli
forces immediately moved to shut down the area, and blocked traffic at
the nearby Zaatara checkpoint, stopping several buses of activists
destined for the village, witnesses told Ma'an.

Soldiers fired tear gas and sound grenades to disperse the activists, and detained five Palestinians, they said.

Israeli
settlers also raided the village and fired at the Palestinians.
Zakariya Al-Najjar, 16, was hit by bullet in his thigh, a Ma'an reporter
said. Settlers managed to seized a trailer in the encampment, activist Salah Al-Khawaja told Ma’an.

He said fistfights broke out between Palestinian men and Israeli soldiers trying to remove them.

An Israeli military spokesman said forces used riot-dispersal means when Palestinians threw rocks at them.

Residents
said the new village was established to protest Israeli land
confiscation for settlement building. Burin is squeezed between the
Bracha and Yitzhar settlements, and the target of regular settler
violence.

They are calling the new encampment the "Al-Manatir
neighborhood" after the traditional stone huts built for watchmen in
Palestinian agricultural land.

It is the fourth such initiative in recent weeks.

In January, Palestinian activists started a new wave of tented protest camps in the West Bank.

The
Bab al-Shams village was set up in an area where Israel plans to build
the "E1" settlement, severing the West Bank from Jerusalem.

Then,
locals established the al-Karamah (Dignity) village in Beit Iksa,
northwest of Jerusalem, which is set to be tightly encircled by Israel's
separation wall.

Last week, activists set up the Al-Asra, or prisoners, protest village in the village of Anin, northwest of Jenin.

Israeli forces have moved to evacuate the camps and dismantle their structures.

A Palestinian activist runs from teargas after Israeli forces evacuate a protest camp in the West Bank village of Burin, south of Nablus, Feb. 2, 2013. (Reuters/Mohamad Torokman)

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces evacuated a protest tent set up earlier
on Saturday by Palestinian activists in Nablus, leading to clashes
which injured at least 20 people.

Earlier, around 200 people from
across the West Bank set up the "Al-Manatir neighborhood" encampment in
an area of Burin village that activists say is slated for confiscation
by a neighboring settlement.

Burin is squeezed between the Bracha and Yitzhar settlements, and is the target of regular settler violence.

Israeli
forces raided the area and forcibly removed all activists from the
site. Soldiers fired multiple tear gas canisters at the protest village,
injuring at least 20 Palestinians, witnesses said.

"If they
demolish a protest village, we will erect a new one, and we will
continue until the Palestinian people retrieve all their rights," he
said.

Burin protesters said they had been buoyed by a report
issued on Thursday by United Nations human rights investigators who
called on Israel to halt settlement expansion and withdraw all settlers,
adding that the practice could be subject to prosecution as a possible
war crime.

The "Al-Manatir neighborhood" is the fourth such initiative in recent weeks.

The
Bab al-Shams village was set up in an area where Israel plans to build
the "E1" settlement, severing the West Bank from Jerusalem.

Then,
locals established the al-Karamah (Dignity) village in Beit Iksa,
northwest of Jerusalem, which is set to be tightly encircled by Israel's
separation wall.

Last week, activists set up the Al-Asra, or prisoners, protest village in the village of Anin, northwest of Jenin.

Israeli forces have moved to evacuate the camps and dismantle their structures.

Nakba Keys

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About Me

I am an activist who, at different times over several years, has lived and worked as a international volunteer in the West Bank of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. This blog is an account of my time in Palestine and also carries original news, comment and analysis (as well as reprints) on Palestine. Live from Occupied Palestine campaigns for an end to Israeli apartheid and the brutal illegal occupation of the Palestinian people. You are welcome to reprint any material from this blog authored by Kim, however, please acknowledge the author and the blog website